oh before I forget to follow up on what I was saying, favourite book series by far is The Dresden Files

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dresdenfiles/images/5/50/Wiki-background/revision/latest?cb=20161122050641

urban fantasy detective series starring Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (right)

and the increasingly batshit crazy situations he finds himself trying to resolve

All takes place in modern-day chicago\

sci-fi. I have to confess I'm a massive snob when it comes to these things, but I've just started reading William Gibson, and I have found new respect for sci-fi literature.

Sci-fi?

Is what I meant.

that's fair. I'm more of an urban fantasy guy.

One of the costs of the culture war is that I don't read many books any more.

The culture war is crazier than fiction.

Right to left here is Dresden, world's only professional consulting wizard. Karrin Murphy of Chicago Special Investigations, who calls him in sometimes to advise and butt heads with whatever's going bump in the night that regular cops can't handle

Michael, knight of the Holy Cross, with a sword that *may literally be excalibur*

there are light spoilers about the almost naked girl but she's another wizard

then a half-turned vampire who's also a light spoiler, and an incubus vampire named Thomas who's pretty cool.

I prefer fiction because of that honestly

something less depression

I grew up on Rick Riordran shit

and Eoin Colfer and DJ Machale and a bunch of those "hidden world of magic" sort of things

Is the black girl a token?

latina, actually.

Oh sorry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSNVFa6eZM

And no, she's an early love interest that gets put on a bus for most of the series

but is still important

But isn't the point of the culture war that it's invading every aspect of our lives. Like "I just wanted to read sci-fi/fantasy, man"...

Oh she’s a standby character for the main to flaunt over?

actually no

the author aborted that trope early on

more of an old flame who got caught up in this bullshit and didn't need to be sort of trope

"i just wanted to play video-games"

essentialyl that, grenade, actually.

She got herself caught up in magic shit and was the crux of a lot of the early plots

Dresden's by far my favourite for its ... not quite "gritty" but more grounded take on what a hidden world of creatures and magic would be; Humans are damn good at explaining away the supernatural, most creatures that *do* hunt humans tend to have gotten *really* good at not being noticed.

Oh so this is Percy Jackson but in Chicago

except with guns.

and lots of actual death.

Because riodan also put in a random character for the sake of being there

and there have only been two proper old world deities seen on panel by book 15

and both are terrifying

It plays on the idea that if you have a council of wizards, and wizards live 300 or 400 years, that compounded interest means that the council of wizards has more financial weight than most countries